The Supreme Court Tuesday unanimously threw out the conviction of accounting firm Arthur Andersen, a symbolic victory for a nearly defunct company torn apart in a document-shredding case involving the fallen energy giant Enron. In a 9-0 opinion, the justices concluded that "jury instructions at issue simply failed to convey the requisite consciousness of wrongdoing." Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote the opinion, saying, "Indeed, it is striking how little culpability the instructions required."
The conviction had essentially forced Arthur Andersen out of business. The company, which is down to a couple of hundred employees handling the remaining legal issues facing it, said it was pleased by the decision even if it did nothing to bring the former Big Five accounting firm back to life.
"We are very pleased with the Supreme Court's decision, which acknowledges the fundamental injustice that has been done to Arthur Andersen and its former personnel and retirees," the firm said in a statement. "We pursued an appeal of this case not because we believed Arthur Andersen could be restored to its previous position, but because we had an obligation to set the record straight and clear the good name of the 28,000 innocent people who lost their jobs at the time of the indictment" and protect the firm against a flood of civil lawsuits.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
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